Derisky Business
by SGL Financial
Our 2 Cents – Episode #248
Derisky Business
Happy Spring! What’s blooming on the podcast charts? Another amazing episode of Our 2 Cents! On today’s show, the Lewits dive into where retirees are moving, how to derisk your portfolio, and the surprising financial lessons we can take from the Oscars. Listen in now!
- Retirees Next Move:
- Where are retirees packing up and heading to in 2026? Here are the five cities stealing the spotlight.
- It’s Not Too Late to Derisk:
- Not every win comes from chasing bigger risks. Learn how stepping back can be the smartest move.
- And the Oscar Goes to…Your Retirement Strategy:
- Gabriel is back with a financial analogy—this time, the Oscars! Think about it: a great retirement plan is a lot like a blockbuster movie.
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Podcast Transcript
Announcer: You’re listening to Our 2 Cents with the team from SGL Financial, Building Wealth for Life. Steve Lewit is the president of SGL Financial, and Gabriel Lewit is the CEO. They’re here to discuss all the latest in financial news, trends, strategies, and more.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, welcome everybody to Our 2 Cents, you’ve got Gabriel Lewit here and Steven Lewit, welcoming you to the first day of spring.
Steve Lewit: Yes, it is. And it’s going to be not too springy.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, it’s warming up.
Steve Lewit: Fifty degrees today.
Gabriel Lewit: It’s feeling very spring-like in the air, I think. Hopefully, you’re enjoying a little bit of warm weather. We had some snow the other day that was winter’s last gasping breath, I think.
Steve Lewit: Yeah. March’s lion will go out like a lamb.
Gabriel Lewit: The what?
Steve Lewit: March comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb.
Gabriel Lewit: Oh, okay.
Steve Lewit: You never heard that? You’re such a young person.
Gabriel Lewit: I don’t know, man. I haven’t seen lions or lambs very frequently.
Steve Lewit: Well, that’s the old phrase. March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.
Gabriel Lewit: Okay.
Steve Lewit: So, it lioned, and now it’s lambing.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, now you know, folks.
Steve Lewit: Now you know, folks.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, we hope you’re doing great. We’ve got some great topics here lined up for you today. Real quick, if you’re listening to this episode, you may realize that we didn’t send ones out the last two weeks, but we actually did record them. We had some glitches with our technology system that allows us to sync our emailing lists, not to get too technical. And so, long story short, the emails didn’t sync with the lists, or I don’t know, but something like that.
Steve Lewit: We got sunk by the non-sinking.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah, sure.
Steve Lewit: Yes.
Gabriel Lewit: But anyways, the point is, I think we’ve got this fixed. So, number one, you should get this email this week for the podcast episode that you’re probably listening to right now. Second, we’re going to be … Actually, I’m out of town next week for spring break.
Steve Lewit: I’m working.
Gabriel Lewit: Steve’s working.
Steve Lewit: Yes.
Gabriel Lewit: But we won’t be doing a podcast episode, so we’re going to send the two that we missed out next week. You’re going to have a double header special, maybe to kick off the spring season here, just like baseball.
Steve Lewit: We’ll have the podcast madness.
Gabriel Lewit: Sure. You can listen to two in a row and really get your day off to a great start.
Steve Lewit: Podcast binge.
Gabriel Lewit: Yes. All right. Well, today, we are also celebrating, as I mentioned, the first day of spring. So, just hopefully you have a nice spring in your step. And March is a good baseball month. Flowers are blooming, all that good stuff.
Steve Lewit: Yeah, man.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah. Okay. Anyways, well, let’s jump into today’s show. I got to get back on track here. That wasn’t my normal intro.
Steve Lewit: You seem very nostalgic this morning.
Gabriel Lewit: Nostalgic?
Steve Lewit: Yeah. Like you’re thinking of something important that is on your mind.
Gabriel Lewit: That’s not nostalgic, I don’t think, but okay.
Steve Lewit: Oh.
Gabriel Lewit: Not really.
Steve Lewit: No? Okay.
Gabriel Lewit: I don’t know where you got that from.
Steve Lewit: I don’t know. Just reading the energy vibes.
Gabriel Lewit: Oh, okay. He’s reading my energy vibes, folks.
Steve Lewit: Yes.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, we were going to talk today about five cities retirees are moving to. We did talk about this on the last show, except for you didn’t hear the last show, most likely.
Steve Lewit: Right. It’s a follow-up of the non-follow-up.
Gabriel Lewit: Go back to that and listen to it. But anyways, we said we were going to talk today about five cities that retirees are moving to. And on the last show, we talked more about estate tax planning avoidance techniques. And one of those was moving to a new state that doesn’t have a state estate tax. And so we wanted to pair that with five cities that realtors are seeing retirees moving to, so you could get a sense of some possible options there. Okay? So number one on the list, and this was a research study done by somebody here, but that doesn’t really matter too much. But Tampa Bay area in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Florida, says that this is apparently a very popular destination, one of the top five cities to retire in in Tampa.
Steve Lewit: I didn’t know this. I thought Tampa was like a ho-hum kind of place, but I’ve never been there, so I don’t know why I would think that.
Gabriel Lewit: That was very judgmental of you.
Steve Lewit: It was. It was. I was reading the vibes on Tampa this time.
Gabriel Lewit: I don’t know what you had for breakfast this morning with your vibe reading, but all right.
Steve Lewit: Right.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, yeah. So, obviously, Florida, one of the big attractions, no matter where you go in Florida is no state income tax, and Tampa is one of the bigger cities in the area. Also, on the, what’s it called? Not the Atlantic Ocean side, the other side. I was thinking Bay, but it’s not the Bay. No. Nobody knows.
Steve Lewit: No, the coast is the Atlantic side.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, they’re all on the coast.
Steve Lewit: The other side, the Gulf Coast.
Gabriel Lewit: The Gulf Coast?
Steve Lewit: Yes.
Gabriel Lewit: Maybe it’s the Gulf Coast. Okay.
Steve Lewit: It’s the Gulf Coast.
Gabriel Lewit: Anyways, yes, it’s on that side, the western side of Florida, a very nice city, from what I hear about it. But of course, no state income tax and no state estate taxes, so if you are looking for a more tax-friendly state, and it otherwise appeals to you, then that could be a very good choice for you.
Steve Lewit: Yeah. But folks, whenever you’re moving to a state that has tax-free in one area, you’ve got to check and make sure that it doesn’t have tax excess in another area to balance it out.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah. Well, generally, Florida’s considered pretty tax-friendly as far as overall taxes for retirement, plus the weather tends to be why a lot of people move there.
Steve Lewit: For sure.
Gabriel Lewit: Now, next on the list, number two, Knoxville, Tennessee. You may not have guessed this one.
Steve Lewit: Not a chance.
Gabriel Lewit: And it is considered an affordable mountain escape with a very low cost of living index that’s well below the national average, which offers very good value for the money compared to, say, the Northeast or the West Coast. Even Florida can be pretty expensive. And also, there’s no state income tax on wages and salaries, so it’s fairly tax-friendly. Also, seasons are pretty mild. There’s no state estate tax, which is what we were talking about last time, in Tennessee. And there’s obviously university systems. University of Knoxville apparently is there, which I’m just reading from the article. I don’t know this just off the back of my hand, but keeps the, as the article says, the culture rich and ensures that the hospitals are of high quality.
Steve Lewit: You know what I’m finding interesting inside myself, Gabriel, is that I would never move. I don’t care what you say about Knoxville, Tennessee. I would never move there.
Gabriel Lewit: So, you’re knocking Knoxville even though you haven’t been there?
Steve Lewit: I’m not knocking it. I’m just saying we have these kind of inner relation … I could see moving to Tampa, but for some reason, I can’t see myself moving to Knoxville, Tennessee.
Gabriel Lewit: You might be needing to expand your horizons.
Steve Lewit: That’s how narrow-minded I am.
Gabriel Lewit: I think you need to expand. Yes.
Steve Lewit: But don’t you have reactions to, like you hear, “Well, Kalamazoo, Michigan, is a great place to live. And isn’t there a little part of you that says, “That’s great, but I’ll never move there?”
Gabriel Lewit: Kalamazoo sounds fun to say, so it might be a fun place to live. Now, if you were to say, I don’t know, somewhere Alabama-
Steve Lewit: Biloxi, Mississippi.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah, the deep-
Steve Lewit: Biloxi is a great state. It’s a great place.
Gabriel Lewit: I’ve never been. Maybe I need to expand my horizons. We’ll see.
Steve Lewit: Yep. Yep.
Gabriel Lewit: Okay. Next up on the list, number three, Mesa, Arizona. Nice.
Steve Lewit: Yeah, that’s a nice place.
Gabriel Lewit: Have you been there?
Steve Lewit: Yes, I have.
Gabriel Lewit: Mesa?
Steve Lewit: Long time ago.
Gabriel Lewit: Okay.
Steve Lewit: Yeah.
Gabriel Lewit: Interesting. All right. So, it’s attracting retirees, especially those relocating from more expensive states. It’s, of course, got a high availability of 55-plus developments, if that’s important for you, warm weather, less snow. And they don’t have a tax that affects social security benefits, so that’s nice. And I don’t believe they have a state tax either. I think we looked that up, and Arizona was not on the list.
Steve Lewit: Not.
Gabriel Lewit: Okay. So yeah, if you want a little warmer weather somewhere that’s popular with other retirees, Mesa, Arizona, might be on the list for you, as well as other places in Arizona could be on the list.
Steve Lewit: Yeah, a lot of artists in Mesa.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah. And now rounding out number four and number five, and then we’ll move on to other topics here, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Vero Beach, Florida. So you’ve got two other Florida destinations that, according to this list, are on the top five cities that retirees are moving to, and now you know.
Steve Lewit: Yep.
Gabriel Lewit: Okay.
Steve Lewit: So, what does that say? Of those cities, Gabriel, where would you move?
Gabriel Lewit: Of those three?
Steve Lewit: Of those … There were five.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, five, sorry. Three states, I was thinking. You’ve got Arizona. You’ve got Tennessee. You’ve got Florida. Well, I don’t know. I haven’t really spent much time in Arizona. Ironically enough, that’s where I’m going for my spring break trip with my family next week, is to Scottsdale, Arizona, so I’ll have a little bit more experience with Arizona after next week.
Steve Lewit: Big retirement town.
Gabriel Lewit: I’ve been to Florida many times, so certainly have familiarity there. It’s not bad. I like being on the ocean. Warmer weather is okay. And then you’ve got Tennessee, which I haven’t been to either. So, who knows? I guess at the moment it would be Florida, just based on experience. But I’d have to check the other ones out.
Steve Lewit: Yeah, cool. All right.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah.
Steve Lewit: We’ll get you there.
Gabriel Lewit: Oh, all right. Well, let’s move on. Certainly, if you have thoughts about moving or you’re wondering about which states are more tax-friendly, give us a call at 847-499-3330. Part of our tax planning is helping guide you through any and all things that might impact your taxes, including where you live. So, we can help assist you with that if that’s ever on your mind.
Steve Lewit: Yes.
Gabriel Lewit: But let’s move on to the other main topic for today, a bit more financial focused here, which would be it’s not too late to de-risk your portfolio.
Steve Lewit: And you might be thinking about that in light of the fact that oil prices are up, and the market is a little tenuous. And you might be saying to yourself, “Gee, I wonder if I’m taking too much risk.”
Gabriel Lewit: Well, exactly. So, the stock market has dipped a little bit in the last couple of weeks since the Iran conflict has recently started and doesn’t seem to be ending currently at the moment. So, many people have expressed some concern that the markets are at the start of perhaps a bear market or a correction, or something even worse, a big type of market crash. There’s no real indication that that’s the case yet, but sometimes little bouts of volatility can get people really thinking about this, realizing they don’t want to see their accounts drop a lot. Even seeing them go down a little reminds them of that, so this might be a good opportunity to reassess your risk and take another look at your portfolio to see if it’s too aggressive or too exposed to risk. And then, we’re going to talk a little bit about the psychology here of de-risking your portfolio because what really prompted me to talk about this is I had someone the other day that said, “Well, I’m concerned about the market being down, but I don’t want to de-risk my portfolio yet because it’s dropped from its previous all-time high.”
Steve Lewit: It might go up.
Gabriel Lewit: Okay. And that’s really at the crux of this is this fear of missing out, this fear of … You already reached a high point in your portfolio, and now, for some reason, a lot of people think you can’t possibly de-risk if you’re anywhere below your high point. And I want to dispel some of this because I think it’s faulty thinking and perhaps aggressive thinking. And we may want to look at that from a few different angles. Okay?
So, let’s take a look at an example here for a moment. Let’s say that the S&P, which I think … Can you pull it up on a chart here, Producer Gabby, so I can see it up on the big screen? Finance.yahoo.com would be the place to go for a quick look. I wanted to see what the S&P started the year at here, and I think it was pretty close to where we are now. So, if you can just click year-to-date, Producer Gabby, we’ll pull this up here on the screen. It just takes a second to load. I don’t want to keep you hanging here on the microphone, so I’m going to keep chatting with you for a little bit.
Steve Lewit: Well, you’re building drama. That’s good.
Gabriel Lewit: Of course, I certainly am.
Steve Lewit: Yep.
Gabriel Lewit: All right. So, let’s see. You’ve got to re-click year-to-date there, Producer Gabby. I don’t think it’s showing yet. Looks like it’s just showing today. And all right, it’s not loading for her. Okay. The suspense is here. Well, anyways, the point is the market was lower at the start of the year. It then went higher and reached a high point, I think a month or so ago, and then has since dropped back to where it is today, which is that it’s down again today, 6,549.
Steve Lewit: A little bit.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, it’s almost 1%, right? So people start to get concerned when they see the market. Let’s say it was 7,000 for easy math, right? I think it was close to that point. It reached a high point there, and then it dropped down to 6,500. Now, even at the start of the year, let’s say it was 6,700. Are you with me?
Steve Lewit: Yep, I’m with you.
Gabriel Lewit: Okay. So, it’s not substantially lower than where it was at the start of the year. And at the start of the year, people were very excited because it was pretty much at all-time highs.
Steve Lewit: Yes.
Gabriel Lewit: Now it did creep a little bit higher over the next two months, but just because it’s down now from the all-time high doesn’t mean it’s not still a good opportunity to de-risk, because relative to where it’s been in the last three, four, five, six, seven years, it’s still exceptionally high. Right? So I want to reframe people’s perspective of this to give them a sense of not feeling like they’re really missing out. Right? You don’t have to wait for it to get back to the perfect all-time high-
Steve Lewit: To de-risk it.
Gabriel Lewit: … before you de-risk your portfolio.
Steve Lewit: Yeah. So if you’re saying to yourself, “Gee, if I de-risk now, I’m losing money.” Well, you’re not losing money. You’re just making a little bit less money, but you’re protecting your downside. It’s like being at the casino and taking your winnings off the table. Yeah, you might miss some a game, but you got that … a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, and you’ve got that funds in your pocket if that’s what your goal is. My question, Gabriel, is, if you have a long-term outlook on the market and suddenly the market takes a dive, that’s an emotional reaction to de-risk. And I think before you even de-risk, you have to ask, why am I doing this? Is that a short-term reaction that violates or doesn’t follow my long-term plan?
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah. Well, essentially, what’s going to drive this is what do you need the money for? How long is your investment time horizon? But for a lot of these conversations that I’m referencing here, these are people that have recently gotten to retirement age, our typical client. They are expecting to use or need some of these funds for retirement, and they may have been riding this bull market wave for a while. And I like your example of gambling, so let me give a better example there. You start off with $10,000. No, with a more detailed example.
Steve Lewit: Gee. Did you hear that? Let me give you a better example, folks.
Gabriel Lewit: Sorry. More detailed example of your gambling analogy.
Steve Lewit: Ooh, that hurt, man.
Gabriel Lewit: So let’s say you had $10,000 three years ago. You with me?
Steve Lewit: I’m with you. I just can’t stop laughing.
Gabriel Lewit: Then, your 10,000, through a lot of good success at the casino, gets to 15,000.
Steve Lewit: Yeah.
Gabriel Lewit: And then the next year, you have more success, and your 10,000 gets to 20,000 or 20-
Steve Lewit: And now you’re asking yourself, “Gee, I wonder how long this will continue.”
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah. So, one more year goes by. You get to 25,000. And all of a sudden, you have a little bit of bad luck, and you’re at 22,500.
Steve Lewit: Yes.
Gabriel Lewit: Okay. And you’ve got to keep in mind, where did we start? We started at 10,000, and now you’re up to 2,250. Would you consider that pretty good?
Steve Lewit: It’s fantastic.
Gabriel Lewit: It’s terrific. Well, a lot of people would say, “Oh, I can’t stop now. I was at 25,000.”
Steve Lewit: Right. Oh, if I stop now, I’m losing.
Gabriel Lewit: Right. If I stop now, I lost some of this money. I could have had 25,000. And they double down, and they stay more aggressive. And many of those same gamblers, in fact, lose a lot of their money, and in some cases, get back to where they started, 10,000, or actually even lose it all, trying to get back to their all-time high. So that’s that greed side of the fence. Now, most people with their retirement investments aren’t going to lose at all, but that same mentality exists. It’s my portfolio was a million dollars, then it grew to 1.5, and then it grew to two, and then it grew to 2.25, and now it’s back down to 2.1, but I can’t de-risk yet because I want to wait for it to get back to 2.25.
Steve Lewit: Which means that you take the risk of it going down further.
Gabriel Lewit: Correct. It may not actually recover to that point. If this were indeed the start of a correction, or a bear market, or a market crash, you wouldn’t ever see it get back to that all-time high, right? And you’re running the risk of a big loss exposure that you’re trying to avoid.
Steve Lewit: You have to evaluate what hurts more, Gabriel, losing the upside, or losing on the downside? What is the bigger emotional pain?
Gabriel Lewit: And looking at it from the perspective that you’ve already made a lot of money over the last 10, 12, 15 years, especially the last three, four years, right? And you’re already well ahead, right? So that can sometimes help you.
Steve Lewit: But isn’t it interesting that most people don’t see it that way? Most people see it as a loss. And that’s the psychology, and that’s what’s so hard about making a de-risk decision. You say, “Okay, I’m going to de-risk my portfolio now, but I’m $50,000 short of where I was two months ago, and I’m losing 50 grand.” Well, no, you’re not. It’s not worth that now, and there’s no guarantee it’s going to go up to that. And you actually made $250,000 over the past, but yet we look at it and say, “I’m losing 50 grand.”
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah. So that’s what we want you to avoid. Now, the reason this is important is if you start to take withdrawals and the markets are down-
Steve Lewit: Yep, yep.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, there’s two things, but one is called sequence of returns risk, so it’s pulling money out of a portfolio while the market is down, can really cause your money to deplete too soon.
Steve Lewit: Faster.
Gabriel Lewit: Much faster. Okay? And if you’re not cautious and you’re not careful of this, and you’re waiting for the market to recover, and it is the start of a bear market or correction, you could inadvertently deplete a lot of your retirement money far too soon, versus if you de-risk now, yes, if the market goes back up, you lose a little bit of upside there, but you also have completely helped conserve and protect your money in the case of a more serious market volatility event.
Steve Lewit: Yeah. I had a client that … it’s interesting … wanted to … Which way did it work? Hold on. Let me see if I got the right client. I do. So he says, “I want to de-risk my portfolio because I think the market’s going to go down, and I don’t want to take a loss.” Okay. So we set everything in motion. We choose some buffer products, Gabriel, some structure, just have a downside protection on them. Then I get a call, and he says, “No, I changed my mind. I think the market’s going to go up.” Right? And we put all the money back in the market, and guess what the market did?
Gabriel Lewit: It went down.
Steve Lewit: It went down.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah.
Steve Lewit: It’s really hard if you’re on that fence to make a wise decision.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah. I think this is hardest for people that are naturally aggressive because you don’t … we grudgingly teach them and push them towards de-risking some part of their portfolio. Because if you’re naturally conservative, that’s the other key thing here. If you’re naturally conservative, then you’d want to de-risk your money anyways. You’re going to accept a little less upside for much more downside-risk protection. But if you’re aggressive, you’re grudgingly getting pushed in that direction because you realize it’s important, but you also don’t want to lose anything if the market keeps going up. So it’s hard, I think, for some people.
Steve Lewit: Yeah. Look, if you like to run, you don’t like to hang out with people that like to walk.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah. But here’s my point for this segment. It’s not too late, right? The market’s now dropping again today as we look at it. Maybe by the time you listen to this, it’s up or down even a little further. Who knows? But it is below its all-time high. And if you’re wondering, “Gosh, should I de-risk my portfolio? I think I’ve been riding this aggressive wave a little bit too long, but shoot, it’s not at the top.” Well, yes, it’s still a really good opportunity to do this, but you want to try to figure that out sooner versus later.
Steve Lewit: Yeah. And again, I’m going to go back to this, Gabriel, because I think it’s so important. If your plan was that these funds are long-term, that you’re not touching for 10, 15, 20 years, and you’re going to take advantage of the market growth over a long period of time, why is this emotional reaction throwing you off of your plan? Because that’s a solid plan, and yet the short-term emotions are saying, “I’m not going to follow my plan.”
Gabriel Lewit: Well, I think for most people with this concern, if they should de-risk and is it too late, it’s because they do think they need the money in the short-term, not so much people with a long-term time horizon.
Steve Lewit: Cool. Yep.
Gabriel Lewit: My two cents. All right. Well, if you have questions on that, give us a call. You can reach us here at 847-499-3330, or go to our website, sglfinancial.com and click contact us, and we could schedule a time to talk to you about de-risking your portfolio, and strategies, and how to de-risk it, what to de-risk it to, the right investment choices, how much, all of the good things that go into planning that discussion, if you have not yet already done so.
Steve Lewit: There are some cool things out there, Gabriel, to de-risk into that you folks may or may not know about, and we’d be happy to share that with you.
Gabriel Lewit: Indeed, yeah. And not to be the focus of our show today on those topics, but just the concept of de-risking. Give us a call.
Steve Lewit: Yes.
Gabriel Lewit: All right. To round out our show here for today, it was recently Oscar’s season.
Steve Lewit: Oh, did you watch this?
Gabriel Lewit: I did not.
Steve Lewit: I did not either.
Gabriel Lewit: But I read about it on the news.
Steve Lewit: So did I.
Gabriel Lewit: Okay. And there was a movie I tried-
Steve Lewit: Did you watch … Gabby, did you watch? No. We have one person on the team that watched the Oscars.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, I guess one of the guys that won best actor was in a movie that I attempted to watch, and I didn’t think the movie was very good, but he won nevertheless. Maybe his acting was good, and the movie wasn’t very good, but-
Steve Lewit: Was that the best movie too?
Gabriel Lewit: No, I don’t think so. It was … I can’t think of it, but anyways, but that’s not really the point. The point is, what does the Oscars have to do with your financial planning?
Steve Lewit: Yeah.
Gabriel Lewit: And as you know, we like to have a lot of analogies here-
Steve Lewit: We do.
Gabriel Lewit: … with financial planning, just to make it interesting. And we said, “Okay, what better than to use the Oscars here to talk about your retirement strategy?”
Steve Lewit: Well, folks, I want you to know that Gabriel is the analogy master.
Gabriel Lewit: I don’t know about that.
Steve Lewit: He speaks … Well, you do. You always talk in analogies, especially football and soccer, and now we’ve got the Oscars.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, we did the Olympics one the other day.
Steve Lewit: And the Olympics.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah.
Steve Lewit: You seem to always find something analogical.
Gabriel Lewit: Sure, absolutely. Well-
Steve Lewit: Is that a word, analogical? I don’t think so. I don’t know.
Gabriel Lewit: So, let’s start with the best actor in a leading role, okay?
Steve Lewit: Yes.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, I think that was Michael B. Jordan in the example I was just talking about. Well, in our financial case, it’s consistent saving and investing. That’s the best actor in a leading role.
Steve Lewit: So, the leading role in your movie, in your acting-
Gabriel Lewit: Financial movie.
Steve Lewit: … in your financial movie is consistent saving and investing
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah, think of it this way: every great movie has a strong, steady, leading role or hero that carries the whole movie, right?
Steve Lewit: I love it, because if you don’t have that lead character of saving and investing-
Gabriel Lewit: You’ve got no retirement plan.
Steve Lewit: You’ve got no retirement.
Gabriel Lewit: Correct. Yeah.
Steve Lewit: I love it. That’s good.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah. So, it’s-
Steve Lewit: I’m going to rank these. That’s an A.
Gabriel Lewit: All right. So yeah, consistent top performance for your investments and your savings is going to be the name of the game for a good retirement.
Steve Lewit: A-rated.
Gabriel Lewit: Thank you so much.
Steve Lewit: Yeah.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, the best supporting actor or actress goes to … drum roll. Okay? Tax planning.
Steve Lewit: Oh, cool. That’s really cool. I didn’t think you were going to say that.
Gabriel Lewit: No?
Steve Lewit: No. I thought you were going to say something about risk profile or something like that.
Gabriel Lewit: No, no. So yeah, you need to have, of course, consistent saving and investing to have your retirement financial movie. But also, every good movie needs a good supporting actor or actress, right? You don’t typically have just single man or a woman movies, right? And financial planning is the same way. If you don’t have tax planning to go along with your savings and investing, you are going to have a much, I think, worse movie for retirement.
Steve Lewit: That’s so cool. And I can give an example. When I was in the opera, okay, I would have a leading role, but if my supporting singer did not relate to me, or I couldn’t connect or anything, I didn’t feel I did as good of a job. And taxes, folks, you know this, it’s not what you make. It’s what you keep. So taxes would be a perfect supporting role for all the money we make. It’s great. I love it.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah.
Steve Lewit: Yeah. That’s another A.
Gabriel Lewit: Oh, well, thank you. I feel like I’m winning something, some kind of prize here.
Steve Lewit: Well, you’re winning the Oscar for this show.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah. So Roth conversions, right, what do you contribute to? How to take money out and avoid estimated, sorry, tax penalties by making estimated payments, avoiding Illinois state estate taxes, we talked about that last time. So many things go into this tax planning world.
Steve Lewit: Yeah. Even additions and costs like Irma adjustments and things like that.
Gabriel Lewit: But this all makes your plan better for retirement. Okay. Best original screenplay, right? The screenplay is before the movie is shot. Somebody goes down-
Steve Lewit: This is like the written document.
Gabriel Lewit: They write it out.
Steve Lewit: Yep.
Gabriel Lewit: Okay. Some screenplays could be very good, but you get the wrong actors or actresses, and the movie’s not so good, but they still can have a great screenplay. Okay? And in this case, this goes to your retirement plan. Your written retirement plan is your best original screenplay.
Steve Lewit: This guy’s knocking it out of the park here. Wow.
Gabriel Lewit: Came up with all these myself.
Steve Lewit: I’m like-
Gabriel Lewit: Actually, I did a little bit of, I don’t know, brainstorming on this with some computer help.
Steve Lewit: Yeah, but it’s good.
Gabriel Lewit: All right. So your retirement income plan is a written document. Typically, you map this out, at least the way we do it, before you make investing decisions or tax decisions. Right? You’ve got to write all this out, really know what you’re looking to do. It can help guide you. And then, of course, you’ve got to execute on it at a high level. That’s where your leading actor and actresses come in to play, but it all starts with the plan, right?
Steve Lewit: Yeah. So, if I can use my opera analogy again, that’s your libretto in the opera, which has all the music in it, and that is your screenplay. I mean, you follow that. The conductor follows it. Everybody is geared into … Each voice has its own libretto, and everybody is geared into that as a harmonic whole.
Gabriel Lewit: So, you’re making this a double analogy today because for every analogy I’m giving, you’re giving another one with opera.
Steve Lewit: Well, mine is better. Well, that’s because mine is better than yours.
Gabriel Lewit: There you go. There you go.
Steve Lewit: That’s a touche moment.
Gabriel Lewit: All right. Yeah. Well, anyways, so that’s the best original screenplay, right? Your written retirement income plan.
Steve Lewit: Well, Gabriel, we all interpret stuff in things that are comfortable for us. So, you’re saying these things, and I’m saying, “Oh, I can relate to that. ” And I bet you folks out there, there are things that you have in your mind that are different from Gabriel’s that you can relate to, but say the same thing.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah, exactly. Now, best picture goes to you living your dream retirement.
Steve Lewit: I’m dumbfounded here. I was really hoping to give it to-
Gabriel Lewit: Now you’re putting me on.
Steve Lewit: No, no, no. I was really hoping to have some fun with this.
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah. Your best picture is your perfect, ideal dream retirement come to life. Okay? In other words, it’s just the best of all the movies. Okay? And that’s what we want for you. We talked about it before with the analogy of the Olympics, right? Going for gold in your retirement if you listen to that episode. But the idea here is to make your retirement the best picture possible. Don’t look back with any regrets. Yeah, we really nailed this one, right? Terrific motion film.
Steve Lewit: Well, you’re the producer of your life. And if you don’t take the reins of that, if you want somebody else to produce your life, it won’t be such a great movie. And the unfortunate part, Gabriel, is if you don’t have the right screenplay, and you don’t have the right actors … well, you’re the actor in your own life, but if your actors don’t know their scripts or their screenplay is incorrect, then the movie can’t possibly succeed as well as you’d like it to.
Gabriel Lewit: Indeed. Now, the very last one I wanted to save. You’re going to get a chuckle out of this. I’m going to get a chuckle out of this even before I say it. Okay? Well, when they’re up there accepting the speech for the award, all the people at the Oscars, what do they always start off every speech by doing?
Steve Lewit: I want to thank the Academy and Uncle Joe-
Gabriel Lewit: Yeah, all the people that they’re thanking, right?
Steve Lewit: … and Aunt Mary, and my Sister Margie, and all the people that did whatever they did.
Gabriel Lewit: So, the best supporting people that made all of this possible in your life, you’ve got to thank them. And perhaps this is different in your life. It could be your parents. Maybe your parents instilled to you good financial planning and savings principles. Perhaps it’s your financial advisory team here at SGL Financial, really helping guide you through challenging, complex scenarios, helping you really maximize your retirement. Maybe it’s thanking yourself for being diligent, your previous younger self, right? A big part of the success that you’ve achieved.
Steve Lewit: That’s really important.
Gabriel Lewit: But thinking about all the people that have shaped your lives and made your successes possible is a great way to round out your retirement Oscars here.
Steve Lewit: Yeah, a sprinkling of gratitude.
Gabriel Lewit: Mm-hmm, indeed.
Steve Lewit: Especially for yourselves, folks. We meet so many people that have accumulated. It doesn’t matter what you accumulate. You might have a little bit. You might have a lot, but we understand the effort that that took to accomplish what you accomplished. And we find that a lot of folks just don’t give themselves much credit. They say, “Oh, I should have done better. I should have had more.” Even if you have millions, “Oh, I could have had more, and I missed this, and I missed that.” Yeah. But you’ve got what you got, and a lot of people don’t got what you got. And I think gratitude of your own self-being and accomplishing that is really, really important.
Gabriel Lewit: I would agree. Well, we hope that was maybe a fun little comparison for you, but we hope that your retirement Oscar-nominated picture here wins in all categories.
Steve Lewit: Those are four As.
Gabriel Lewit: All right.
Steve Lewit: Five As, straight As.
Gabriel Lewit: If we can be part of your support team to help make that possible-
Steve Lewit: I’m really upset you didn’t get a B or something that I could say something clever, or you missed this.
Gabriel Lewit: I aim for top performance.
Steve Lewit: Perfection.
Gabriel Lewit: Okay. There we go.
Steve Lewit: Perfection.
Gabriel Lewit: Well, let us know how we could help you is where I wanted to end with that. So you can give us a call here, and set up a free time to talk, consultation here, just a second review about your finances, see what challenges or goals you’re facing, how SGL may be able to help support you with those. If you’re a current client of ours, we can help review any part of your planning. Or you want to de-risk further, let us know. We’re here to help. Again, our number here is 847-499-3330, and our website is sglfinancial.com. Contact us anytime.
Steve Lewit: Anytime.
Gabriel Lewit: Anytime. Well, have yourself a wonderful rest of your day. Enjoy the first early days of spring, and we will talk to you soon on the next show.
Steve Lewit: Stay well, everybody.
Gabriel Lewit: Bye-bye.
Steve Lewit: Bye.
Announcer: Thanks for listening to Our 2 Cents with Steve and Gabriel Lewit. For any questions about your finances, give SGL a call at 847-499-3330, or visit us on the web at sglfinancial.com, and be sure to subscribe to join us on next week’s episode.
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